Prospects of a rich harvest as well as crop diversification of Haryana farmers have been affected by the dip in prices of maize.
In the absence of sufficient government procurement agencies, farmers are being forced to sell their produce at Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,200 per quintal to private traders while the minimum support price (MSP) of this crop was hiked to Rs 1,850 per quintal.
Farmers claim that the fall in prices has caused them an estimated loss of Rs 20,000 per acre.
They said the government agencies do not procure maize grown in rabi season and the lack of competition forces them to sell their produce to private traders Rs 600-Rs 700 per quintal below the MSP.
The government has declared maize as the best alternative of paddy, especially in the rice belts of Kurukshetra, Karnal, Kaithal, Ambala and Yamunanagar districts, and announced cash incentives of Rs 7,000 for every acre diversified from paddy to maize.
Farmers said last year, the market price was Rs 1,500 to Rs 1,600 per quintal. “The fall in prices has not only caused losses to farmers, but also discouraged them to adopt the diversification plan as the sowing of maize (kharif) begins with the harvesting of the crop sown in the rabi season,” said a commission agent.
“I had grown maize on five acres and there was a bumper yield. But at this price, I am unable to recover even the input cost. Now, I have decided to sow paddy on all my land,” said a farmer, Darshan Lal, from Kurukshetra’s Ladwa.
{{/usCountry}}“I had grown maize on five acres and there was a bumper yield. But at this price, I am unable to recover even the input cost. Now, I have decided to sow paddy on all my land,” said a farmer, Darshan Lal, from Kurukshetra’s Ladwa.
{{/usCountry}}Another farmer Shahbad, Rajiv Kumar, said, “If the government has fixed the MSP, it should procure the entire produce of both rabi and kharif to provide the benefit of MSP to the farmers.”
Haryana state agricultural marketing board chief administrator Sumedha Kataria said, “The government agencies begin procurement of maize from October 1 as rabi maize is not included in the procurement plan.”
As per traders, the wholesale price of maize has decreased due to the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on the poultry industry.
“Poultry farms are the biggest consumer of maize, but they were shut due to fall in the prices of eggs and chicken. This has directly affected the prices of maize,” said a maize merchant, Krishan Lal of Yamunanagar.
“Though we are purchasing maize at Rs 1,100 per quintal, there are no orders from feed producers. This has forced us to limit the amount of maize we buy from the local market,” he added.